Hitching a Ride
by almondina
Summary: After becoming stranded in pre-revolutionary France, the Doctor hitches a ride with his past self to get back to Rose and Mickey.


The Doctor was bored out of his frankly magnificent mind. Two weeks. Fourteen days. 352 hours. 21,126 minutes. 1,267,571 seconds.

72.

73.

74.

He rose from the stone bench and rapidly scratched the back of his head. This era was nice to visit, but bloody hell was it boring to live in. He'd run out of ways to keep his mind occupied after one day, seventeen hours and three minutes.

Some eras wouldn't be too bad to live through. Early 21st century wasn't too bad - just enough technological advancement that he didn't have to hide everything obsessively, but not so much that he couldn't fill his time improving things.

Plus there was so much on the telly, he couldn't really be bored without some effort.

Oh, and the internet! He'd forgotten about that. So much could be done there as well, though it was still rather primitive during that time.

He sighed. He knew why he was thinking of the early 21st century and it had nothing to do with his current predicament.

No, wait, scratch that. It had everything to do with the anxiety surrounding his current predicament. But! If he was remembering correctly, and he usually was, then it should be any moment now...

The sound of a sudden wind whooshing by made him break into a brilliant grin. The first real one he'd worn in the past 352 hours. He grabbed his key out of his right inner pocket, unlocked the freshly materialized door and stepped inside the TARDIS.

He immediately laughed. He couldn't help it. From the TARDIS' admonishing laughter in his mind to the incredibly boring and excessively clean console room, he was a bit overwhelmed with emotion.

"I say! I say there! Who are you and how did you get in here?" a flustered voice came from the hallway. A gleeful giggle slipped out as the Doctor looked over his past self.

Well, his original self, to be more specific.

The incredibly young Time Lord had aged in his original body to the point of looking like an older human. He stood properly, hands on his jacket lapels, drawn up to his full height and looked disapprovingly at what he assumed to be a young human who had just broken into his TARDIS.

"Young man, this is certainly no time for shenanigans. You have broken into the wrong place! Although I must wonder at how you managed it..."

"Oh that? Just used my key," the Doctor grinned, rocking back on his heels a bit.

"Falsehoods have no place in here, boy!" the older looking man practically harrumphed. The Doctor burst out laughing at the admonishment. He really had tried so very hard to be old and important when he was young.

"I assure you, I am not lying," the Doctor replied in his most proper tone - once he had gotten control of his laughter, of course.

"We'll see about that, hmm? Now, come, out you go. Enough of your antics!" The other man strode purposefully over to the Doctor and grasped him firmly by the arm.

"Ah, right, well, see, about that. I need a bit of a favour."

"A favour? I don't know what you're playing at, but one does not break into someone else's property and request a reward!"

"Oh, so you came by this ship legally, then?" The older-looking man paused and looked suspiciously up at the Doctor.

"Who are you and how did you get in here?"

"I'm the Doctor. And I already told you - I used my key. But that's really neither here nor there. I was on this spaceship in the year... well, I'm not entirely sure what year. Or where it was exactly. I wasn't paying that much attention. When pre-revolutionary France keeps bleeding into a ship, you kind of get distracted, I'm sure you understand." The Doctor paused, but the other man was staring at him incredulously. "Right. So, long story, but there was a fixed point situation and the time lines were too scrambled to land inside it safely, so I had to rather trap myself there. Did a lovely dramatic jump on a horse to do it, though! It was quite dashing, if I say so myself."

"Oh, I see. Well, I'm sorry, but I don't get involved. So, if you would please -"

"Don't get involved?!" the Doctor exclaimed, a bit squeakily. "We're the king of getting involved! The Emperor of Interference, if you will. ...No, actually, don't - that's a bit rubbish."

"Sir, I don't know what you think you know about me, but I assure you, I am no longer involved with any sort of Time Lord or Time Agency business."

"Oh, no, I'm entirely on my own. A bit freelance, I suppose. Well, I say on my own. I have this - well, she's - she's a friend. Rose. Her name's Rose. And she... oh, right, they - forgot about Mr. Mickey there - they're trapped on the ship without me and I need to get back to them."

"And again I tell you that I am not getting involved. Now, if you would be so kind," the older looking man pushed the Doctor towards the doors and pushed the hidden button to open them.

Nothing happened.

"What are you doing that for, hmm?" the other man glared up at the ceiling.

"Nice to see someone recognizes me, eh, old girl?" the Doctor grinned, pushing past the other man and walking up to the console.

"Be careful! That is very delicate machinery and -"

"And I've got a bit more experience than you do at flying her," the Doctor finished, running his hand lovingly over the console. "Now, I need you to find yourself for me, ok? Sometime in the 51st century, in the Dagmar Cluster."

The rotor began to slowly move in response and the Doctor gleefully pressed a loud smacking kiss against the glass pillar surrounding it. There was a slight noise in the hallway.

"Oh, my dear, go and hide in your rooms! We've been hijacked!" the younger Doctor called out.

"Hijacked!" the Doctor squeaked. "I haven't hijacked you! I can't hijack you! You can't exactly hijack yourself!"

"It seems you can," a sweet voice came from almost right behind him. The Doctor whirled around, a wide smile taking over his face. He swept the tiny brunette up in his arms.

"Oh, hello, my dear, dear Susan," he murmured into her hair. He mentally threw all of the grief threatening to overtake him into a mental dungeon and slammed the door shut.

"Grandfather! Put me down!" Susan giggled.

"Oh, where's the fun in that!" the Doctor complained as he gently placed her back on her feet.

"Do let me take a look at you!" Susan exclaimed, clasping her hands together in anticipation. "Goodness me, this is a change. You're so much -"

"More handsome? Dashing?"

"I was going to say taller," she laughed.

"So you're my regeneration, eh?" the younger Time Lord asked, looking the Doctor over critically. "I suppose that explains how you got in here, but why did you even need help, hmm? Shouldn't your... fellow travelers be able to fly her just as well?"

"Oh, no. They're human. Early 21st century Earth, to be precise. Absolute rubbish at driving. Last time I tried to teach Rose, I think she may have knocked a couple days off of the 1980s. Funnily enough, no one noticed..."

"Human?! You have humans onboard the TARDIS?"

"Oh... right, you probably aren't... right, well, shouldn't say too much more." the Doctor cleared his throat awkwardly.

"How wonderful! It must be lovely to have friends along with you! Oh, Grandfather, could we bring people onboard?"

"Don't be silly, Susan. Things must have changed quite a bit by his time, hmm? We're in trouble enough as it is, being on the run as we are. We couldn't possibly risk having others involved. And humans are simply too dim to for me to have the patience to deal with. Perhaps it's some sort of charity or educational program."

Luckily, the Doctor was saved from having to respond to that little train of ignorance by the TARDIS landing. He grabbed Susan's hand and bounded to the doors.

The first thing he saw was Rose Tyler's bum.

"Oi! Look who showed up! Got another bird with 'im too," Mickey laughed. He was leaning against the bright blue doors of the TARDIS.

Rose turned and looked over her shoulder. She was on all fours, head inside the fireplace, examining something. She flashed a brilliant grin.

"Rose! What... what are you doing?" the Doctor asked squeakily.

"Oh, you know, just looking for a way..." she trailed off, her gaze landing on the Doctor and Susan's joined hands. She abruptly stood up, dusted her knees off and walked over, her jaw clenched around a tight smile. "So, who's this then?"

"You can call me Susan." Susan reached out and grasped Rose's hand between her own. "It's so lovely to meet you! I've never met a real human from Earth before!"

"I-is that right?" Rose laughed a little uncertainly. "My name's Rose. Rose Tyler. That's Mickey over there."

"How rude of me!" Susan raced over to Mickey and looked up at him, her eyes sparkling. "Very pleased to meet you."

The Doctor quickly looked at the floor. The grief he had condemned to his mental dungeon was making a prison break.

"You ok?" Rose asked quietly, looking at the Doctor.

"Dear me, this place is in quite a state, isn't it." Rose looked up in surprise at the white-haired man looking disapprovingly around the spaceship.

"Yeah, but the droids they had! Clockwork robots! Clockwork!" the Doctor enthused to his past self. "Absolutely breathtaking machinery."

"That does seem interesting, but another time - well, I suppose it will be another time," he chuckled. "...Can I help you?" Rose had walked up to him and was staring at him, her eyes searching his face.

"So you do look younger with each regeneration!" Rose laughed, turning back to her Doctor. "Blimey, the next you is going to look about twelve."

"Oi!"

"Goodness, you've told her about regeneration?"

"Not until it happened!" Rose exclaimed. "To be more accurate, as it was happening! 'Oh, by the way, I'm going to look completely different now.'"

"Grandfather, you didn't!" Susan cried out, coming back over.

"To be fair! I was dying at the time!" the Doctor protested. "It was a bit hard to concentrate on -"

"GRANDFATHER?" Mickey burst out laughing. "Oh, man, here I thought you was jus' robbin' the cradle on a whole new level, but this is just too much."

"You are certainly a jovial young man, aren't you," the older looking Doctor sniffed.

"Doctor, isn't this kind of... bad? The two of you together like this?" Rose asked. "Reapers and all that?"

"What're Reapers?" Mickey asked.

"Nothing, Mickey," the Doctor said quickly. "No, it'll be ok. This isn't quite a paradox. It's more like a circular time loopy thing. I did this before, so I can do it now."

"'K, you lost me," Rose replied.

"Well, see, time's not exactly linear, I explained that before, right? Cardiff and Charles Dickens? See, I was able to go ask myself for help because I remembered picking myself up."

"So you knew who I was when you met me?"

"Not... not exactly, see, I didn't remember until I remembered!"

"Oh, that's perfectly clear, thanks."

"I'll simply repress the memory, my dear. It's quite easy for a Time Lord to do so. And at the appropriate time, the memory will return to me. Think of it as receiving a letter from yourself, I suppose," the other Doctor explained calmly.

"Thank you, Doctor," Rose smiled charmingly at the older looking man. She smacked her Doctor on the arm. "See, was that so difficult? I swear, you enjoy confusing me..."

"Right! Well, past me, you really probably should be off," the Doctor said suddenly, not liking how Rose was looking at his past self.

"Quite right. Come along, Susan." The elderly-looking gentleman held his hand out for the young brunette.

"Oh, must we? I want to learn more about humans!"

"We'll go visit like we were planning on before we were, hmm, interrupted, let's say." He led Susan towards their TARDIS.

"Can't we go stay for a while?" Susan asked.

"Well... perhaps not in that time period. Perhaps some time a bit more advanced..."

"No, wait!" The Doctor snatched Susan's hand and dragged her off to a corner.

Holding her hands desperately in his, he spoke fiercely to her, his tone low, his eyes searching hers, begging her to understand what he was saying. She nodded, her face confused and worried. The Doctor pulled her into a tight hug, kissing the top of her head. He closed his eyes and simply held her for a few stolen moments before pulling back and flashing her a too bright grin and placing his fingers gently on her temples.

"What are you doing over there?" the other Doctor called out, looking decidedly put out. "I can do that perfectly well, thank you!"

The Doctor smiled sadly and led a dazed-looking Susan to the man she called Grandfather.

"I needed to tell her something. Something for her to remember later," he explained as the other man put his arm protectively around his granddaughter and began ushering her into their TARDIS. "I'm sorry, but you couldn't know about it."

"Yes, well, I hope you haven't done anything to the time lines! They're very fragile, you know," the other Doctor blustered, standing in the doorway of his ship.

"Oh, you haven't even begun to understand the intricacies of the web of time." The Doctor sighed, shook his head and grinned at his former self. "So, off to see the universe then?"

"Yes, well, I think I'll give her a trip to Earth first. As a present, you understand. Now, shall I remember a bit when I am stranded in France and the rest as it happens?"

"It seems so," the Doctor agreed, the wide grin still plastered on his face.

"Right then. I shall be off. It was lovely to meet you, my dear." The older-looking man stepped out of the TARDIS and kissed Rose's hand. To the Doctor's annoyance she blushed and giggled. "And you as well, Ricky," he nodded at Mickey.

"It's Mickey!" Mickey protested.

"What? Oh, hmm," he paused for a moment. "Are you sure about that?"

"I think I know my own name, mate!"

"Ah well," the other Doctor shrugged and stepped back inside, closing the door behind him. Soon the familiar whooshing sound filled the empty corridors.

The Doctor's manic grin faded along with the other TARDIS. He stared at the empty space where it had been, his face blank and emotionless. He could vaguely hear Mickey mocking his former appearance and his age and Rose defending him, but everything sounded muffled.

For a moment he had been tempted. Tempted to tell her to not go back to Gallifrey when they called everyone back home to fight. Tempted to take her away with him now and to hell with the consequences. Tempted to drag her into the TARDIS and use that horrific device to change her to human, to hide her from the Moment he would unleash.

But he hadn't. He let her go, just as he was supposed to, just as he always had, only to end up killing her and everyone else.

He had forgotten that she used to look at him as though he was the most amazing being in the universe.

And he had betrayed her. Snuffed out that beautiful light in her eyes.

The silence in his mind echoed louder than ever.

"Doctor?" Rose's soft voice broke through his spiraling thoughts. He looked at her, almost surprised to see her there, standing calmly beside him, her hand gently on his arm. "Come on, let's go home."

He nodded and walked with her into the TARDIS, barely aware of his own limbs moving. He flipped a couple of switches and sent them into the Vortex without thinking. He leaned against the console and stared up at the time rotor.

"I was thinkin', now that we've done a spaceship, we should do a bit of time travellin', yeah?" Mickey's voice broke into his clouded mind. "You seemed real happy to see your gran'daughter, so maybe we could go see her. Y'know, how she's doin' in the future?"

"Mickey..." Rose whispered, shaking her head. She knew he was trying to prod the Doctor into doing something productive, to shake him out of this mood, but she was really worried about what had happened to Susan. With what she knew about his past...

"She's not doing anything," the Doctor said in a quiet voice without moving. "She's dead."

"Oh. Oh, man, I'm sorry, I didn't -"

"It's fine." Still he stared at the slowly moving rotor. He vaguely heard Mickey's continued apologies and eventual retreat.

"Doctor."

"Yeah?" An automatic response. The rotor had stopped moving, but he still looked at it.

"What happened?"

"Right, yes, sorry," he turned and looked at Rose, a smiled pasted on his face. "Fixed point situation. I had to prevent her from dying, but then I got stuck, so I just flagged myself down. I hope you weren't waiting too long."

"Well, Mickey thought you'd abandoned us." The smile faded from the Doctor's face as she spoke.

"I would never abandon you Rose." His words were low and forceful, begging her to just believe him.

"I know," she assured him. "I know, Doctor. But that isn't what I was asking about."

"What do you mean."

"What happened to Susan?"

"I don't want to talk about it." He abruptly turned away from her and the console and walked towards the hall, making his escape. A hand on his arm stopped him.

"Doctor. Tell me."

"What do you think happened, Rose?" he snapped, glaring at her and hating himself for taking his anger out on her even this small amount. She simply entwined her fingers with his. He just wanted her to say whatever trite meaningless polite expression of loss would pass her lips so he could take off and hide from her questions about things he didn't want to think about.

"She was beautiful." For some reason this simple, unexpected statement cracked his defenses.

"Yeah, yeah she was." He gave a watery laugh and gazed behind her, not really looking at anything. Rose led him over to the jump seat and leaned her head against his shoulder as they sat together.

"Tell me about her." The Doctor closed his eyes and smiled despite himself.

"She took after me more than my children ever did. It drove her parents absolutely mad. One day, when she was supposed to be at school..." The Doctor sat and told Rose stories of Susan's childhood and a few of their adventures together.

"What did you say to her?" Rose asked during a long pause after his tale of how he accidentally-on-purpose kidnapped two of Susan's teachers. "When you said goodbye to her today, what was it you told her?"

The Doctor sighed and leaned back on the jump seat, looking up at the ceiling. He took a deep breath and told her. He would tell her the words, but would he never explain the reason.

In the mid-22nd century, Susan watched in horror as the TARDIS disappeared before her eyes. She blindly reached behind her to clutch at David's hand.

And then she remembered.

"Susan, please let me just say this. I need you to understand that I love you. I always have and I always will. I know that we're not even supposed to feel that, much less say it, but I do. You are so very precious to me, my dear girl, and never forget that. When you remember this, I will have done something that seems unforgivable, but please know this. I am only doing for you what I, in the deepest, most hidden depths of my soul, wish someone would do for me. But I can never have what I'm trying to give to you, so please, love and be happy and have a fantastic life."

Susan clutched the hand of the man she loved and looked up at the sky, praying to whatever deities existed that her Grandfather could one day somehow have his own happiness.

And on a cold beach in Norway, Rose Tyler cried, clutching the hand of the one who could stay, because she understood.


End file.
